William Arcane - Settle
London-based artist/producer William Arcane has today shared a new cut from his forthcoming 'Hourglass' EP; the beautifully textured and melodic 'Settle'. The track was recorded in just one day, with all the sounds being captured onto an old 1960s reel to reel tape machine before being chopped up. The vocals were recorded directly into the tape's old microphone, whilst playing with the tape spools when played back to get some weird pitch modulations. On the process, William explains:
"It was one of those brilliant moments where the creative energy was just flowing and everything came together really quickly. I was also reminiscing about an argument I had with a partner and that was left unresolved at the time so the lyrics came very quickly as well as I was just spilling out my subconscious thoughts onto tape."
The track premiered today via The Line of Best Fit, who said "it's a remarkably fluid cut – synths ebb and flow like the tide, while vocals fade into focus and fizzle into the ether. It's rich and fractured, but Arcane makes the disarray alluring." 'Settle' features on 'Hourglass' EP – a four track collection of soulful, downtempo, pop songs written straight from the heart. The EP will be released on 29th November on Trace The Line Recordings.
'Hourglass' shows Arcane laying his emotions bare. He had been living in London, working behind the scenes for other artists (he has been working with/producing for Nao, Rosie Lowe and Denai Moore of late, amongst others) and composing for film and television when a relationship he was in came to an end. He booked a small cottage on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales and took himself away for three weeks in complete solitude, to let nature do its healing. It was there that he wrote this EP; 'Hourglass', which references the feeling that a window of time in which he had to reconcile his relationship was getting narrower and narrower. On writing the record, Arcane explains:
"Everything was written on the piano in Wales and then I brought the songs back to my studio in London. I was afraid to revisit them and do all the production work for a while because it was a tough place to re-visit. I nearly didn’t release them because they felt so personal and I thought it would make me very vulnerable, however I decided that everything would crystalize from releasing it for others to hopefully draw something from."
In his forthcoming EP, Arcane's trademark tender compositions are filled with soft-edged rhythms and textures. His delicate vocal sits atop innovative production, resulting in a bold and crisp, affective collection of songs.
With his last single 'Reflected' getting the nod of approval from Bonobo on his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix and Jamie xx and John Talabot on their Space In Ibiza Mix, William Arcane has truly garnered respect and notoriety amongst his peers, and this next release promises the same reaction.
Track listing for 'Hourglass' EP as follows:
1. Until I Forget
2. Chariot
3. Settle
4. Hourglass
